


5 Times Timmy Got Away With Pranking the Office and 1 Time He Didn't

by I May Age Regress (shnuffeluv)



Series: Gibbs' Family [36]
Category: NCIS
Genre: 5+1 Things, Age Play, Air Horns - Freeform, Gen, Mischief, Non-Sexual Age Play, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Questionable use of Jelly, Slice of Life, TPing, This reminds me of The Office tbh, Worried Gibbs, superglue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-08-18 22:20:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8178244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shnuffeluv/pseuds/I%20May%20Age%20Regress
Summary: What is says on the tin. Timmy has some fun pranking the team. The team doesn't take it kindly.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A good friend of mine and I made an agreement earlier that I would update this series provided they finished the piece they were working on. They held up their end of the bargain, now it's my turn. You guys might cringe with second-hand embarrassment, idk. I've just been meaning to write this one up for a while. Enjoy!

It started innocuously. A little coin Timmy found lying on the sidewalk in front of the NCIS building. It was an old penny, but not one that would be worth collecting. It was greenish around the edges and most people would just leave it where it was. But Timmy was feeling like pranking people recently, and you never know where inspiration might stirke. So he slipped it in his pocket and walked inside to get to work, the coin slipping his mind for a little while.

The next time he thought about it he was down in Abby's lab. McGee was typing at one of the victim's computers and he remembered that his sister thought it was the most hilarious thing to superglue coins on the sidewalk outside their house and watch people attempt to pick them up. Abby would probably have superglue. He grinned. Oh, this could be fun. "Hey, Abs, got any superglue?" he asked.

Abby glanced at him. "Probably, somewhere. Why?"

McGee could feel Timmy slipping through the cracks, and he allowed it. "I've been feeling like getting revenge on Tony for a while, and I found a bad penny on the sidewalk earlier today."

Abby laughed. "Gonna make him work for a little extra change, huh? Okay, I'll help you out."

McGee wasn't sure if he or Timmy was more in control at the moment, but he didn't really care.

After the hacking that needed to be done, was done, he went up to the bullpen, penny and superglue in hand. No one was there when he arrived. Timmy glanced around for a good place to put the penny, and realized he could put it on the power button for the plasma without damaging anything. So he put a dollop of superglue on the penny, and stuck it on, grinning a bit at the sheer mundaneness of the image. He went to his computer and started typing. Tony and Kate walked in, arguing about something or another from the case. Tony glanced at the plasma and did a double-take. "How'd that get there?" he asked.

"What?" Kate questioned.

"That," Tony said, walking over, and trying to peel the penny off the power button. But the glue was fast-acting, and as strong as its advertisements promised. "It's not...coming...off?"

Timmy smirked a little at Tony's confusion. It was a simple prank, and easily remedied, but the short confusion that came from it was...satisfying. More so than pulling the wool over little Tony's eyes.

This could be pretty fun.

* * *

Kate was next. In Timmy's mind, it was only fair. He took some masking tape and bought an air horn at the local drug store. Then he taped the air horn just below Kate's seat, after every one else left work for the day. It took him all of 5 minutes, and he still got to say good night to Gibbs before he went home.

The next morning Timmy skipped any sort of coffee, knowing what was going to happen. He walked in with Gibbs from the elevator, then Tony showed up, and then Kate. She obviously had overslept a bit, and hadn't had any coffee either. She sat down heavily in her chair, and _BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR_!

Everyone jumped, even Timmy. Kate shot out of her seat and the sound stopped. Timmy laughed in shock and found that he couldn't stop. It was hysterical to him.

"Kate, I think you broke the Probie," Tony said.

" _I_  didn't do that!" Kate protested, pulling her chair out into the open to inspect it. "Someone taped an _air horn_  to the seat?! Who _does_  that?!"

Timmy laughed harder, and started wheezing. It was getting increasingly difficult to breathe, and he was pretty sure he was crying. Tony was staring. "How much sleep did you get, Probie?" he asked.

"Not...enough..." Timmy gasped.

"Well, that explains why you're laughing so hard. Next time, ease up on the morning coffee," Tony advised.

Gibbs just stared at the scene silently, calculating something or another in his head. Kate took the air horn off the chair and threw the tape clinging on to it away. "What do I do with this?" she asked, holding up the air horn.

Tony shrugged. "I'll take it," he offered.

"I'm not that crazy, Tony. You're probably the one who set that up in the first place!"

"When?" Tony protested. "I left the office at the same time as everyone else except Probie last night!...Probie?"

"McGee was out in the parking lot by the time I was pulling out of there," Gibbs said. "His computers were slow logging off, or something like that. He wanted to make sure no one could access them. But he was out of here minutes after the 2 of you left."

Tony frowned. Timmy finally stopped laughing so hard, and sat up, panting. "Sorry...not a lot...of sleep...last night..." Which wasn't an outright lie. He had been having some issues falling asleep. Maybe that was why Timmy was coming out so easily. "I'll try...not to let...it happen...again."

Everyone moved on, and Timmy breathed a little easier. Already, his mind was moving towards what he could do next to wreak havoc on the office.

* * *

His third one was simple. He didn't want anyone getting too suspicious of what was going on, after all. Kate and Tony both took varying amounts of sugar in their coffee. All Timmy needed to do was switch the sugar in the break room for salt first thing after lunch, when the only people getting coffee was the team, sans Gibbs. He swapped the containers, pretending to pick something from the vending machine as Kate and Tony put the salt in their coffee, and switched the shakers again as soon as they were out of sight. He put sugar and cream in his own coffee, drank almost all of it in one go, and walked back to the bullpen, not wanting to miss those first innocent sips.

Tony was the first victim. He took a large swig of coffee and immediately leaned over his trashcan to spit it out.

"Gross! Tony!" Kate exclaimed.

"Someone put _salt_  in my coffee!" Tony gagged.

"Oh, you're just trying to get me to not drink mine!" Kate scoffed, taking a sip from her own. Her eyes bugged out as the taste hit her, but she swallowed thickly and gasped. "See? It's fine," she rasped.

Tony grinned. "You just swallowed salty coffee," he sang.

"Did not," Kate protested.

"Did so!" Tony accused. "Hey, Probie, did you get salt in your coffee, too?"

"I'm not risking it," Timmy said. He pushed the mostly empty foam cup into his trashcan. "Not gonna drink salt if I can help it."

Tony narrowed his eyes at Timmy, and rolled across the bullpen in his chair to sit in front of Timmy's desk. "You feeling all right, Probie?"

"Fine. Why do you ask?"

"Because you sound a little bit like Timmy," Tony whispered. "And you don't want to be little at a crime scene. Trust me."

"I'm fine, Tony," Timmy said, making a mental note to make the effort to sound like an adult in the future. "Really."

"Okay. Good. Let me know if you feel bad, okay? We can tell boss and see what needs to be done."

Timmy nodded, and Tony went back to his own desk. He contemplated his next move.

It was probably time to up the ante.

* * *

Timmy shifted in his seat, impatient to hear the warbling tone that indicated a phone was ringing. Normally he wouldn't be so excited about it, but this was a very special occasion.

This was time for another prank.

Every time he heard it, he perked up and glanced over at Tony, and every time he was disappointed to find that it was not Tony's phone which had rung. After the most recent ring, Tony caught Timmy in the act of glancing over. "What are you looking at, Probie?" Tony asked.

"Nothing," Timmy said, snapping his eyes back to his computer.

The phone rang across the open room. Timmy glanced at Tony's phone. It wasn't the one ringing. Someone from the next pen over answered theirs and started talking in tones too quiet to pick up.

Kate's phone rang, and she answered it calmly. Timmy was getting impatient. He needed to see his prank come to fruition before he aged up again, but at this rate that wasn't going to happen. He shifted in his seat again, and cleared his throat. Not getting what he wanted was getting on his nerves.

Another phone rang. This time, it was deceptively close to his desk, but not close enough to be his. He glanced across the bullpen. It was Tony's! He watched from the corner of his eye as Tony picked up the phone handle, and lifted it to his ear. Closer...closer...

"Hello?" Tony asked, the earpiece a mere half inch from where Timmy wanted it to be. "Sure, I'll take a message," he said, lifting his shoulder to hold the phone in place. He tilted his head to the side to hold it, but when it came into contact with his ear, his face dropped.

Timmy bit his lip and shifted in his seat again, pretending he hadn't noticed. Kate was staring at Tony now, as well.

"Mm-hm...yeah...okay. Yeah, I'll tell him," Tony said, writing something down on a notepad. "Great. Bye."

He removed the phone from his ear, where a bright purple splotch of jelly was now clinging, not just to Tony's skin, but the hair surrounding his ear. Kate burst out laughing at the sight. Timmy grinned from ear to ear. It was too hilarious to _not_  smile. "Verrrry funny," Tony bit sarcastically. "Which of you did this?"

Kate shook her head, nearing the point of tears. "It wasn't me," she said.

"I wish I could say I came up with that," Timmy said. "I would have definitely jumped on the opportunity to use it. Not on you, though. Either of you. I actually like living."

Kate snorted at Timmy's response and continued to laugh. "We've got to find out who did this. I'd love to shake their hand."

Timmy nodded and went back to typing at his computer. Tony wheeled over to him, giving him one of the faces he usually saved for interrogations. "Probie," he said, dangerously quiet. "Did you do this?"

Looking over, Timmy instantly regretted making that choice. Tony was near howling mad, he could tell. And he had on a glare that could rival most people's, saving Gibbs. And that was approaching the _maybe_  territory. Timmy swallowed. "Sorry for grinning. I wish I could help you, but I can't say I know who did it."

Tony's jaw clenched and he leaned back in his chair. "Someone is pranking this bullpen, Probie, and I don't like it."

Timmy chewed his lip in thought. He had to tread lightly. "It has to be someone we know, though, or security wouldn't let them in. Right? And it can't be one of us, because we're the ones being pranked..."

"Gibbs hasn't been pranked yet," Kate pointed out. "So the person we're dealing with doesn't have a strong death wish."

"That narrows the pool down," Tony sighed. "I'll find who did this, and when I do..." he slammed one fist into an open palm.

Timmy gulped and turned back to work as Tony slid back to his desk. That was close. Almost too close.

Almost.

* * *

Kate shrieked indignantly as she went through her mail. "Tony!"

Tony looked over from his computer. Timmy bit back a grin as he watched. "What?" Tony asked, confused.

Kate held out the jar she had unwrapped that had been with the rest of her mail. A jar which had _Honey Dust_  written on it in neat, large handwriting. "Very mature, Tony," Kate growled.

Tony held up his hands. "That wasn't me!" he said defensively.

"Well then who was it?" Kate asked.

Tony opened his mouth to reply with a sharp retort, but it was clear he didn't have one when he closed it again. Timmy was enjoying the show while typing out an e-mail to Abby that he knew he wouldn't have to send. He could bring the results of the next test up when he went down there to help out.

"Probie!" Tony snapped.

Timmy jumped slightly and disguised it as him adjusting his chair. He turned to face Tony. "Yeah?" he asked, monitoring his voice to make sure he sounded like an adult.

"Check the video feeds of the mail room. We might be able to find out who slipped that in."

Timmy nodded. He knew that was going to be Tony's first course of action, and that was exactly why he had hacked the feeds right before he went in to drop the package off. He pulled up where the feed should be on his computer. "There's a cut in the footage," he said. "I bet that's when the guy slipped in the package."

"Oh! See? I don't know how to do that!" Tony said, pointing emphatically at Kate.

Kate huffed and crossed her arms. "I still want to know who did this."

"We'll find out," Tony promised. "Won't we, Probie?"

"Well, I can try and recover the footage..." Timmy said, typing on his keyboard. He knew he wouldn't be able to recover anything.

Kate, slightly appeased, sat back down just as Gibbs walked in. "Nice honey dust, Kate."

"This isn't mine, someone--"

"Don't care," Gibbs cut her off. "Grab your gear. We got a dead petty officer on the mall."

Timmy grabbed his stuff and let McGee take charge. He was still trying hard not to laugh his head off at the fact that he had gotten away with giving Kate honey dust!

Gibbs sent him an inquisitive look as they got in the elevator and McGee swallowed. He may have gotten away with it this time, but he was certainly toeing the line of getting caught now.

* * *

Timmy couldn't help but let a few giggles slip as he walked around Papa's desk again, letting the toilet paper roll he was holding unravel around it as he did so. He had already mummified Papa's chair, and now he was making a few laps around the general space before getting into some real fun with the office supplies. He bit down on his lip to try and stop laughing so hard at the thought off Papa coming in to find his desk and chair completely redecorated. And no one would ever have to find out it was him! It was pure genius!

1 more lap around the desk...2, and 1 more for good measure. There.

Now for the computer. He wrapped the keyboard in a layer of paper, so you could see the keys but pressing down to type would break it into pieces. Then the monitor got zig-zagging patterns across it on all sides. At that point, Timmy was out of his second roll of paper, so he stuck the cardboard roll in Kate's trash can (Tony would never put the rolls in his own, and Timmy didn't want to be found out by putting them in Tony's,) and pulled out his third and final roll. Where to put the finishing touches? He tied a strand in a bow around the stapler, and wrapped up all the pencils and pens into one big pile, and made the phone cord a mess of paper and rubber. He looked over his handiwork, and decided it wouldn't hurt to use the rest wrapping around the desk. He took several laps and began giggling uncontrollably again. He couldn't help it! He had been waiting for this, the Big Prank, for ages. He finished the roll of toilet paper, tied off the ends, and positioned his webcam so he could record the reactions of the team, before ducking under his desk to hide in the leg space.

And not a moment too soon, for the elevator dinged and Timmy could hear Kate and Tony arguing over something or another. Their words got closer...closer...and ground to a halt when their footsteps reached the bullpen. "...Tony, did you do this after everyone left?" Kate asked in a whisper.

Timmy stuffed his hand in his mouth to stop making sound, but he was shaking in laughter.

"No! I don't have a death wish!" Tony exclaimed. "But Probie left before me last night, and I don't see his stuff here. Maybe it was Abby?"

Kate scoffed. "Sure. Because Gibbs wouldn't get mildly upset at her doing this, if only because it would take time to clean up."

Timmy closed his eyes. His cheeks hurt from smiling too wide, but he didn't care.

"Maybe Gibbs is trying to mess with us, and he did this to himself?" Tony suggested.

"Did what, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, his brisk footsteps obvious from where Timmy was sitting.

Then there was silence. The footsteps halted, and no one said a word. Timmy felt sheer elation mixed with extreme dread. He was coming to the realization that while Papa was okay with his pranks, Boss usually told anyone trying to pull anything over on anyone else to knock it off. There was a distinction there that he had missed while thinking this through.

Okay, so this was bad.

"DiNozzo," Boss-Gibbs said very quietly. "What is this?"

"I-I-I, uh..." Tony was stuttering, he never stuttered unless there was a _huge_  problem. "I don't know. Kate and I walked in and this was already here."

"Well, where's McGee?!"

Oh. That was another thing. He was supposed to be big at the office, wasn't he? An adult. Well, now he was shaking for an entirely different reason. He was in _such_  big trouble.

"Probie's not here yet, Boss," Tony said.

"He clocked in already. I checked. Where _is_  he?!" Gibbs repeated, agitated.

Timmy had to bite back a whimper. Bad. Bad bad _bad_. He was gonna be in so much trouble! And what if he got Agent McGee fired? Adult Tim loved his job! This was just awful!

"I...don't...know," Tony said.

"His stuff isn't at his desk yet," Kate pointed out. "If he were down in the gym sparring, his bag would be there. If he were saying hi to Abby first thing in the morning, he might not have made it up here yet. I can check the lab."

"Oh, I don't think that'll be necessary," Gibbs' voice was uncomfortably close. Timmy jumped, and his head banged against the bottom of his desk. "He's right here."

Gibbs leaned over Timmy's desk so his head was visible from where Timmy was sitting. Timmy leaned back into the corner of the leg space. "H-hi," he stammered. The game was up.

"McGee," Gibbs growled. "Why are you sitting down there?"

Timmy bit his lip and wished he had never had the idea to come into work early and do this. "I-I...I dunno," he mumbled.

"What do you mean, you 'don't know'? You have a reason for sitting down there, don't you?"

Timmy could feel the backs of his eyes stinging. He bit on his lip harder to keep from crying and tasted copper. Oh, he was dead. So dead. This was it. This was his last chance to live, and he was completely tongue-tied. He buried his head in his knees and tried to stop the sob threatening to escape, causing the shaking to intensify with a vengeance.

He could hear Gibbs whisper a word that sounded like it was on the list of words that were Not Allowed At Home, and then there were a few quick steps and the sound of joints popping and a hand was on his shoulder. Timmy flinched and the hand shot away from him, and Timmy almost regretted flinching because if someone was touching him he could feel the tense-up before the first blow.

"Hey, kiddo, I'm not gonna hurt you, promise. Take a deep breath for me?"

There was muttering from Kate and Tony and Timmy felt horrible. He now remembered the rules that Papa had told him about and Gibbs had repeated about being little at the office. And he had gone and broken them. That was almost as bad as messing with Gibbs' coffee, or leaving Kate or Tony out to dry.

"Timmy, I need to get you out from under there. I'm going to grab you by the shoulders. I might jostle you a bit, but I'm not going to hurt you if I can help it. Is that okay?"

His head was feeling a little lighter than it should and his mind felt like piranhas in a feeding frenzy and he was pretty sure the word he was looking for that he needed to tell Papa was hyperventilating but he couldn't be positive and it took everything he had in him to process those few sentences and nod. Papa had his arms wrapped around him and he was being pulled on the ground sideways and Papa placed him on his side on the floor, and Timmy oddly found breathing a little easier in this position. That is, until he saw Tony and Kate peering over the desk curiously. Timmy covered his face with his hands and tried taking deep breaths like he had taught himself years ago. He couldn't panic, couldn't panic. If he stayed calm and apologized he might not get in as much trouble. If he got too worked up, he'd be a bother on top of everything else.

"Hey, give Timmy some space, you two," Papa instructed. There were footsteps and someone muttered something inaudible. "Sorry, kiddo. I know people watching you can make you nervous."

Timmy shrugged. It wasn't _that_  big a deal, or at least he shouldn't make it into one.

"Do you want to go somewhere away from prying eyes?" Papa asked softly.

Did he _ever_. He didn't want to do anything that might be a chore for someone else, though. He shook his head slightly.

"Liar," Papa said softly, helping Timmy sit up. "C'mon, how about we get you a snack from the vending machine. No one will ask why we're there if I bring along a file or two and we make it look like we're reading."

"Could it be Sour Patch Kids?" Timmy asked, cracking his fingers open just enough to let one eye look out at Papa.

"Yeah, 'course it can. C'mon, up."

Timmy stopped covering his face and sat up, rubbing at his eyes to get rid of any remaining tears. Papa stood and pulled Timmy up after him, looking over at his desk and sighing. "Kid, you know you're cleaning this up, right?"

"Yeah," Timmy said quietly.

Papa picked up 2 untouched files from the desk and tapped them against Timmy's forehead. "Let's go."

Timmy followed Papa out of the bullpen, not missing the looks Kate and Tony were sharing. He ducked his head and sped his walking pace until he was side-by-side with Papa. They didn't say anything until they got to the break room, when Papa passed him a dollar and gestured to the vending machine. "Get whatever you want."

Timmy smiled gratefully and walked to the vending machine, making sure they had Sour Patch Kids in their usual spot before punching in the number. When he had his candy and sat down across from Papa at the table, his stomach twisted in anxiety. He was, after all, still in trouble. "Sorry about the prank," he said.

"It's okay," Papa said. "I was expecting whoever was pulling pranks on everyone to come after me eventually. But...what were you _thinking_ , Timmy?" he asked in a whisper. "What would have happened if someone attacked the office, or there was a crime scene we needed to go to? You would have been in serious danger and in no condition to handle it properly!"

Timmy nodded. "I just wanted to have a little fun," he said.

"Well, you got that," Papa pointed out. "Until I showed up, I'm willing to bet you were laughing your head off."

Timmy grinned. "It _was_  funny," he agreed. "But then I remembered that here you're boss. And you might not like getting pranked as boss."

Papa pointed his finger at Timmy. "That's exactly why this wasn't funny. Some things that we do at home aren't meant for work. At home if you prank me, it's funny. But here it's a sign of disrespect. You just have to remember your surroundings and what they mean, kiddo."

"I'll try," Timmy promised.

"Good. Now can you be big, or do I need to take you home?" Papa asked.

Timmy played with the candy in his hands and thought it over. He wasn't sure exactly how he had gotten little, just that it happened sometime between when he woke up and when he thought of pranking Papa. "I...I can be big, I think."

"You think, or you know?" Papa asked, insistent.

Timmy looked up, forcing himself to be confident. "I can do it."

Papa nodded. "Be in the bullpen in 5, or else," he warned.

McGee forced his way to the forefront and nodded. "Got it, boss. Thank you for not firing me."

Gibbs stood up and smiled dangerously. "Don't thank me yet. You still have to clean up my desk."

McGee took a calming breath as Gibbs left and opened up the bag of Sour Patch Kids, eating a few before he went to face the music.

As soon as he was back in the bullpen, Kate and Tony cornered him. "So you're the one who put jelly on my phone?" Tony growled.

" _And_  the one who put honey dust in my mail?" Kate bit.

McGee swallowed. He knew he wasn't going to get any help in this from Gibbs. "Yeah," he said, brushing off their tones the best he could. "I figured it's only fair after all your hazing."

He may have been the tallest on the team next to Tony, but that didn't mean he wasn't backing away as Kate approached him. "You are _so_  dead," she said.

"Not yet he isn't. Grab your gear," Gibbs interrupted. "We've got a bomb threat. McGee, you're staying here, and when I get back, this bullpen better be spotless."

McGee nodded silently as the other three left. He didn't even watch them go, just went to work on cleaning up Gibbs' desk. Man, he was in trouble.

Though, Timmy thought as McGee began cleaning up the desk, it was totally worth it. Even if he did get in trouble.

Even if he was never going to try _that_  again.


End file.
